that’s the thing…. for me the different between a fight and being attacked is whether you chose to hit back.

I disagree, they’re not mutally exclusive.I try to avoid violence at all cost but last year in the snow 3 youfs jumped me for my ipod. I realised they didn’t have a knife otherwise they would have shown it early on so I chose to hit back hard as the only other option seemed to be a hospital bed and no ipod. I was still attacked even though I “chose” to hit back.

those KFC’s are ugly!

And why do they have that stupid top-seat tube junction? It’s heavy, un aero and torsionally weak. The swiss should stick to making knives

My sister (AnaNichoola, occasional lurker on here) has been asked to do it after her mini-drome exploits.

Give her a cheer from me as she hopefully sticks to to the hipsters please!

who teaches the skills day teachers?

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are loads better than the Beatles

I think Bode Miller might disagree with there being a “proper” skiing technique!

IMO, whilst there are bad ways of getting through a section on a bike, you only have to watch the varying techniques of the top DHers to see that style is quite an individual thing when getting it “right”

PP, it’ll only be raining in the Summer anyway

My mate who is admittedly a beast rode the North Downs with a 44 front and 11-25 rear for a while. He now rides SS which is harder.

TJ, this applies to many people though:

“Where an employment contract provides for “x days holiday plus bank holidays” then an employee will be entitled to the royal wedding bank holiday next year in addition to the usual eight bank holidays.”

I’m moving out of home soon bringing my 7 bikes with me. At the moment the family garage has my 7 and my mum, dad and sister have another 6 each. Plus all the spare wheels etc.

We also have another 4 in france.

Is nearly 30 enough? No chance!

Last year I drove to the Massif Central after work from London with 5 of us in the car. It worked out pretty cheap, but the main advantage was that I didn’t use up a day each side travelling. I’m tight with my minimal holiday allowance and only took 3 days off work to get 5 days on the slopes. It is tiring but I feel that’s a price worth paying.

I find training plans interfere with life!

Riding when I can/want to seems to do me OK at my level (2nd cat roadie, top ten local CX league) but the next step up to ride national level events would probably need more focus and that would take the fun out of it for me.

sorry C-L, I disagree with you on the hassle point. I raced on a CX bike when I was 14 with no problems. The only change really required is wheels/tyres. The restricted gear will mean faffing about with those whatever the bike.

My mate Chris Ansell was getting some good results in the E12 races at Crystal Palace a couple of seasons ago on his Ridley CX bike. He bought a road bike with a few races to go and said it didn’t make a discernable difference.

the tricross is known as being not being very aggressive ( hight front end, long stays etc) so it probably wouldn’t be the best choice if it is also being used for crits.

I would look for something that is more (cx)race rather than tour/towpath orientated. Don’t know what your budget is, but S/H may be the way to go

that looks wicked man! want

Steel race bikes are pointless, retro ones even worse. They are overpriced to lure newbie non racers too old to be a fixie-hipster into the whole “bikes are cool” posturing.

Think of the carbon bike you could get for 2.5k. I bet you one could be found that would ride nicer, be lighter, stiffer and more aero.

105 cassette will have an alloy carrier the largest sprockets which do the most damage. A good cost/weight compromise over all steel one perhaps?

Aw, thanks guys! It concentrated the mind landing in the dark, on tubs with the saddle up and a CX race heart rate. I didn’t fancy crashing much in front of a few hundred spectators and loads of photogs!

lol @ Don Simon

Cheers but that’s not facepaint, I’m SPIDERMAN! 😀

not an all-mountain bike and not natural terrain, but I was pleased with these attempts during a cross race:

FuzzyWuzzy, we don’t know how exactly beneficial this research will be in the future, but scientific research often provides unexpected bonuses. For example the World Wide Web was developed at the CERN accelerator. I think you’ll agree that has been a meaningful benefit.

Is the weight loss really worth the risk of smashing your nads into the top tube or stem? Even CX racers have some form of guide when running a 1x setup

you would run the risk of heart palpitations and heart attack, so possibly wouldn’t be awake for that long……..

surf mat will win.

when you thinking of going? I doubt if I count as an oldie (27) but I can’t get air on a 1/4 either and haven’t ridden a BMX for 6 months due to injury . I think you have to be a comfy on a spine ramp to get the most out of skaterham, but I’d be interested in coming along to plax on the box.

ferrariby40 (aat) hotmail (doot) com

I like andythereocketeer’s ideas. The UCI are coming up with ill-thought out rules that give with one hand and take away with the other at the mo. For example the min weight rule means that the richer teams/countries spend their money on aerodynamic improvements instead to get an advantage. Also, they made the upper CX tyre width limit to restrict the no of wheels a racer brings to a race (to keep perceived costs down) but then allow disc brakes, meaning the top guys will now have twice as many bikes!

My race bike is comfortably under the UCI limit. They guys I race against know that, most coms are aware but luckily no one gives a toss.

SBZ you must be one of the greedy people who contributed to the recession.

and it depends how fast you want to ride.

and how accurate the gym bikes are

and how strong the wind is blowing

and what pressure you have in your tyres

and whether you have free running bearings and chain

etc etc

Going riding instead of boarding? I’m disappointed! And jealous of your spanish trip….

Take Sofia to spain for her Birthday Stopa, I bet she’d be moaning how cold it is here loads by then. A trip to the homeland would be perfect, surely?

Thanks guys, some good info there, I’ll look through those.
She isn’t a vegan (eats eggs, milk etc) but doesn’t use leather products.
I should have said that canvas is OK for summer, but not good for winter. Re-soling is certainly an option.

Cheers!

ou est le singe?

Aren’t gels for shorter more intense events where your digestive system can’t really cope with solids? You should be fine with “proper” food or bars. Maybe a caffeinated gel such as the mule bar lemon zinger if you’re really in trouble in the last hour or so.

this thread is awesomeovich!

😆

venue specific or not, surely the CTC insurance is 3rd party too, not personal injury?

I think the CTC’s involvement at Aston Hill etc is great, the more legal places we have to ride the better. I’m just not sure £6 a day is that attractive when there are free places to ride nearby, or £68 a year when I might only ride at the above venues 3 or 4 times in total.

aP, I won’t be there, doing up a house so have jacked in racing for a while. The other Glowinskis should be representing though.

chapaking, I don’t want the bumpf and don’t need the insurance I just would like to pay a small fee for upkeep of the trails and stuntramps(tm)

I need to be a BC member to get a racing licence and hopefully they stay afloat, but my point still stands, I don’t want to have to pay twice!

At Ski resorts if you already have insurance you get a cheaper skipass than those who need to be insured which makes sense to me, pay for what you require only.

I don’t mind paying a small fee for maintenance etc but I already have British Cycling insurance so it seems silly for me to have to buy a policy all over again for as Dango puts so succintly, 15% off an anorak!

IdleJon +1

I really enjoy surfing at times, and catching “that” wave is a great feeling that make the frustration worthwhile. However, overall cycling wins for me.